Dring dring! Dring dring!

Issues: “Hello?”

Mr. Screen: “It might just be your lucky day…”

Under circumstances I’m not at liberty to reveal I got an invitation to the DIOR show. A dream come true! Well, almost. I dream of having an actual sit in a show, but I am also very pleased to be standing so close to the holy of holies.

As you all know, yesterday’s show wasn’t like any other before. The clothes weren’t the talk of the day, but their mouthy creator, he-who-must-not-be-named, John Voldemort Galliano. In a 5 minutes long speech, Sidney Toledano, the CEO, managed not to pronounce his name even once.

(Generally speaking, it seems that Christian Dior fashion house is trying to erase the last 15 years from its history. Take for example this ad that popped out of nowhere and flooded the metro, inviting the public to an exhibition of Dior’s past collections, from 1947 to 1997…  The exhibition is held in the Parisian department store Le Bon Marché, who’s related to the group Christian Dior by LVMH)

Leaving aside the historical moment and back to my own personal history making… It started pretty much like I imagined, only a bit less organized. No one even checked my ID card to verify it matches the invitation :) .

Along with Mr. Screen, we were led into the tent to find a long catwalk in the middle, sits from either side and a mountain of photographers in the end (I’m guessing there were about 60 of them, mostly men):

I had a ridiculous smile on my face while my company didn’t seem so excited, bored even. “I’m really not into all that high fashion nonsense”, he told me, using the lowest voice his throat could produce.

Having watched about 500 shows on FTV in the past 10 years, I had a precise idea of what to expect – a high profile event, very elegant, strict and respectful… Yeah… Not from where I was standing.

Once the girls appeared, the mountain of photographers became a hill of horny dogs screaming “Whoo Hoo!!”, “Oh Yeah Baby!” and “Woof woof” at the models.
By the end of the show, Mr. Screen changed his mind about fashion and forgot all about his macho low voice. “THIS IS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE!”, he concluded. I agree.

P.S. these are my shoes on the DIOR runway

P.P.S Sorry for the pictures’ poor quality… It was dark…

Living and working in Tel Aviv, Kobi Levi juggles a  footwear collection for men (Design Kitchen), a second line for women (Shoola) and a teaching job in “the Guild” – shoe design and production school.

When he does get a minute to rest, Kobi enjoys working some more, creating artistic footwear and publishing it in his blog.

“I always loved shoes and saw in them an interesting sculptural object. As a piece by itself and attached to legs or the body”, Kobi explains his unusual approach to shoes. ”I wanted to create a styling language of my own and show a humoristic way to look at shoes design. Also, the technical aspect of building these 3 dimensions forms gives me an opportunity to execute my creative fantasies with no compromises…”. Unleashed, Kobi’s fantasies do go a long way. Examples:

Some of your work can be interpreted as a certain critique on society, about women. Is there a hidden message behind your designs?

“In every work there’s a message and multiple layers…. Some will interpret “Blow” as turning the woman into a sexual object, but you can also look at it as a grotesque product that dishonors the user, not women. One way or another, it’s about society”.

Is there a demand to commercialize the “Crazy Shoes”? Are you planning on doing so?

“A lot. Many people are asking to buy or order these designs. Right now, I’m looking into making  limited editions. These are very complicated pieces so I don’t know really when it could be done. But in any case, I won’t give up the essence of the design just to increase production. The two will have to go hand in hand”.

By the way…  This is how Kobi’s “Normal” designs look like:

Alber Elbaz pour H&M

Let me paint you a picture. It is  the morning of November 23rd. D-day – the collaboration between Lanvin and H&M is finaly out to the stores. In front of an H&M somewhere in the world dozens of hysterical clients, mostly girls, are gathered, fighting to be as close as possible to the entrance. Then the clock rings 9 AM  – the opening of the doors. Within seconds the shelves are empty of content, clothes are being thrown around every where, girls are screaming, fighting over a dress or a coat (oh, that Zebra coat…)…. Pfff… It’s only clothes, right ?

Now let me paint you a different picture. It’s the begining of the afternoon of a different day. A woman enters a luxurious boutique, let’s say Lanvin or Chanel on rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. “Bonjour”, says the seller, “Bonjour”, she replies. She looks around slowly, goes back and forth, tries on a pair of shoes or a dress or a coat. Finaly, she goes to the cash register, pays 1,500 euros for a bag or a jacket and walks away. Hmmm…

These last few days I saw many people declaring online that they are not one of those “fashion victims”. They will never fight for a dress in H&M with the mob. Yet, those same people, with their same average salary, could go in a high fashion house and buy (in payments) something they can’t afford. The question is “which of these two girls is more of a victim (I hate that word)”?

-      ” What do you mean ‘you’re not going to write about Paris Fashion Week’ ??? How can you call yourself a fashion blogger and not write about Paris Fashion Week ???”

-        “You’re right. I can’t just ignore fashion week, it’s way too important… But what am I going to say ? It’s not like I was invited or anything. How can I cover an event that I wasn’t there to see?”

-       “Being there isn’t important, everything is online already. Look at the fashion shows online and find something, write about trends…”

-       “I DID see everything online, I’ve been doing that all week long. But if I write only based on the internet, I might as well write about New York or London Fashion Week. Do I have to write about Paris FW only because I live here ?”

-      ” Suit yourself… I’m just saying that  you’re the only one who didn’t write about Paris fashion week.”

Well, there you have it.
And here are a few looks I liked during Paris Fashion Week:

Fendi

Dior

Vera Wang

Lanvin

Céline

Chanel

DKNY

Erdem

Sonia Rykiel

It was really just a matter of time. For a while now, things were going a bit too smoothly in the fashion blogging field. The biggest bloggers have been wooed by the most luxurious fashion houses for several years now; they are invited to the front row in fashion week and get expensive gifts by the dozen. But now a mini web-storm is threatening to touch this indulgent milieu in France. The credibility and very image of all fashion bloggers is hanging in the balance.

It all began with the crossing of an invisible line. The 3rd most popular French fashion blogger, Miss Pandora (with 15,000-20,000 visits per day!), decided to pose for a campaign of the French label “Comptoir Des Cotonniers” with her mother (traditionally, the ads of this brand show couples of mothers and daughters using the same garment of clothing).

Suddenly, a rain of criticism fell on Pandora’s head. The relationship between bloggers and labels became the hottest issue of the day, with articles and analysis all over the net. The attention, the gifts, the privet parties, the hidden sponsorships… Are the bloggers under influence? Asked L’Express magazine. Are they bribed? Wondered Rue89 website. Are they breaking an ethical code when they write about a dress they “adore” and fail to mention this was a gift? Or when they pose in a pair of shoes made by their own label, without full disclosure?

The answer is yes, they are breaking the ethical code of journalism. But they are not journalists.

The real problem is that the difference between journalism and blog writing has gotten too vague. After all, many respectable journalists write a blog on the side and many major events are covered by bloggers… My first reaction says that we have to keep in mind that these are two worlds apart. But judging by the state of the press nowadays, blogs might be the neo-journalism. Nevertheless, If they want to stay relevant, bloggers will have to adopt certain professional ethics, or they will lose their credibility sooner then expected.

Pandora played with fire, but i can only assume that with today’s buzz she got much more visits than Betty or Alix (first and second French fashion blogs)…. And visibility is the name of the game, right?

Tavi Gevinson started her blog, Style Rookie, two and a half years ago. At the time, she was an 11 yrs old girl with an itch for fashion and good writing skills. Her charming personality drew the eye of the fashion world and the media, and soon enough she started getting invitations to fashion shows (first row sits of course). By the age of 13 she’d already kissed hello Karl Lagerfeld and John Galliano. Today, just after her 14th birthday, she’s the prodigy of the fashion industry worldwide.

Sure, Tavi is a gifted child. Reading her articles proves that she has a strong character, a unique voice and a lot of knowledge (she even gives lectures about marketing techniques to reach generation Y). But it seems like many people forget an important detail regarding her – she’s a kid. Her opinion shouldn’t make or break a designer, she doesn’t belong (yet!) in the first row, and Miu Miu high heeled sandals aren’t gorgeous on her feet, more like ridiculous.

As grown-ups, our job is to smile lovingly, pet her head and say “Sweety, one day you’ll make it big. But for now, take off these shoes and go do your homework or something”.

Read more on the subject in Chroniques d’une parisienne avertie.

If you like fashion blogs, take a look at LOOKBOOK.nu. It’s an online privet club where young bloggers from around the world post their best looks. Unlike other web sites who share a similar concept (Ilikemysyle.net for example) Lookbook is not very democratic. Here, not everyone is invited to participate and only chosen members are allowed to post their styles, comment or rate others.

Once you finish hissing “what a bunch of snobs”, you might want to take a closer look. It’s actually a nice way to get familiar with new faces in the on-growing community of fashion bloggers.

But then again, if you believe all fashion blogs are alike, you could see in this web site the ultimate proof to the banality of today’s self-admiring youth.

One way or another, say hello to some of the chosen people: Romina (15) and Josephine (16) from Germany, Tricia (21) from the Philippines and Perventina (25) from Russia.

Economy is harsh, and sometimes you need to make tough decisions to respect your budget. For instance: What do you need more – culture or clothing? The last issue of your favorite magazine or a t-shirt?

Luckily, the solution to this dilemma exists. It even comes all the way from Sweden to your doorstep with the mailman. T-post, “the world’s first wearable magazine”, is published every five weeks, printed on t-shirts and sent to subscribers. On the inside there’s a news story, and on the front – an artist interpretation of it.

Behind this original concept is a group of friends who started printing their wearable issues in 2004. Today, T-posts are sent to 50 countries all around the world (Price: 19 Euros per T-shirt + 7 for shipping in Europe or 9 dollars for the US).

A magazine that tells you what you should wear and also provides the clothes? T-post is like chocolate sauce on a steak – a good way to satisfy all your whims simultaneously!

Illustration: Gregory Rouillard

When H&M launched on 2004 an exclusive collection designed by Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel’s artistic director, the stores were out of stock within the hour. H&M then thought it discovered three crucial facts about us all : We want names, the price matters, quality is not realy a priority. Ever since then we saw 15 other collaborations between the sweedesh company and fashion designers like Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf, Jimmy Choo or Sonia Rykiel. Each time the public went nuts to get an item.

Now, with it’s limited edition ‘Karl Lagerfeld X Coca Cola Light’, the red giant went even further with it’s assumption: associating a household name with a product could create an instant trend, even if the product has nothing to do with fashion. Even if it’s a soft drink.

There’s no reasoning here, of course, we know that inside the bottle it’s the same diet coke, but it tastes so much cooler when the model in the ad wears Chanel.

A quick visit to Galleries Lafayette a couple of days ago made me believe Coca cola had placed its bet wisely. People were standing there in long lines to pay for their diet cokes, and I don’t think any of them were thirsty. Thirst had nothing to do with this purchase… What do you think they were actually buying ? A bottle of drink or the last piece made by their favorite designer?

  A weird phenomenon has taken over the french press lately. In just over a month I’ve came across 3 special editions of magazines where “the power of the editor-in-chief” was given to celebrities. More accurately, these magazines are dedicated entirely to one chosen person.  

The latest issue of Madame Figaro, out to the news stands today, is dedicated to Vanessa Paradis from cover to cover. How to get her red carpet look, what music she listens to and what are her favorit dishes, these are only three examples of  what awaits in this one-woman-mag. It’s not the first time Madame figaro has chosen this strategy. The first lady of France, Madame Bruni-Sarkozy got to conduct the issue of March 27. If you’d like to see a fashion spread featuring Carla’s best friends and sketches of her made by the greatest designers (Jean Paul Gaultier, Alber Elbaz, Karl Lagerfeld and more) – this issue is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  

You might think i’m overreacting. After all, Madame figaro is not realy a fashion magazine… But what do we do when the “people attitude” reaches Vogue Paris? This month’s french Vogue is dedicated to Penélope Cruz. In it we can read an article about her sister’s style and see photos from her privet album. Hmmmm….

Personally, I believe a Vogue signed by Stella McCartney or Marc Jacobs would have been more appropriate.